This application claims the priority of German Patent Document 100 54.009.0, filed Nov. 1, 2000, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to a wind protection device for an open motor vehicle having a passenger cell (10) that has at least one car seat (12) with a backrest (16), wherein, on a level with the top area of the backrest (16) at least one air outflow opening (18) of an air supply system (14) is provided, by way of which a head, shoulder and neck area of a seat occupant is impinged on with a regulatable air stream to avoid undesired air draft.
DE 92 01 474 U1 discloses a wind protection device for an open motor vehicle, in whose passenger cell there are two car seats arranged in a row. At a distance behind the seats there is a tube, which is on a level with the top area of the backrest, runs in the transverse direction of the vehicle and exhibits air outflow openings. Thereby, the head, shoulder and neck area of the seat occupant can be impinged on with an air stream that can be regulated to avoid an undesired air draft.
An object of the present invention is to provide a wind protection device of the aforementioned type with improved comfort for the seat occupants when driving with the top down.
The present invention achieves this object with a wind protection device in which and wherein the air supply system (14) comprises at least one sensor (20, 22) to measure a parameter value, whereby system is configured such that the air stream, issuing from the at least one air outflow opening (18), is regulatable as a function of a parameter value by a regulating unit (24).
According to the invention, the air supply system exhibits at least one sensor to measure a parameter value and one regulating device, which assumes the control of the air stream, flowing out of the air outflow opening, as a function of the measured parameter value. In particular, the sensors can be used to measure the driving speed, the outside temperature or the humidity.
At the same time, to increase the comfort of the passengers, the wind protection device of the present invention accounts for the fact that, for example, at a higher driving speed the turbulence is stronger in the head and neck area of the passenger. Correspondingly, as the driving speed increases, the head and neck area of the passenger is provided with a stronger air stream, which is controlled by the regulating device, in order to compensate for this swirling. The wind protection device of the present invention is also capable of equalizing the fluctuations in the outside temperature, thus providing the seat occupant with a constant pleasant feeling in the head and neck area by way of an adaptive control of the air stream.